Writers love words … and I’m a writer who also loves quotes. All kinds of quotes. Today, I’ve rounded up some favorite quotes about writing for you. Read ’em, write ’em down — but most of all, learn from them.

• “I would never write about someone who is not at the end of his rope.” Stanley Elkin (1930-1995), American novelist
• “If you want to know your characters better, ask yourself ‘How would they behave in a quarrel?'” Barnaby Conrad (1922-2013), American author
• “The artists who want to be writers, read reviews; the artists who want to write, don’t.” William Faulkner (1897-1962) American writer & Nobel Prize laureate
• “Remember that you should be able to identify each character by what he or she says. Each one must sound different from the others. And they should not all sound like you.” Anne Lamott (1954-), American novelist & nonfiction writer
• “Advice to aspiring writers: Fasten your seat belts–it’s going to be a bumpy ride.” Christopher Buckley (1952-), American novelist & political satirist
• “Believe in your own identity and your own opinions. Proceed with confidence, generating it, if necessary, by pure willpower. Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it. Use its energy to keep yourself going.” William Zinsser (1922-), American writer & editor
• “Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don’t bother to just be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” William Faulkner (1897-1962) American writer & Nobel Prize laureate 
• “The secret of good writing is telling the truth.” Gordon Lish (1934), American writer
• “Write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you are writing, and aren’t particularly writing well.” Agatha Christie (1890-1976), English crime novelist
• “Find out what your hero or heroine wants, and when he or she wakes up in the morning, just follow him or her all day.” Ray Bradbury (1920-2012), American science fiction and fantasy author